Opinion | City Council member’s vulgarity underscores what’s at stake in Minneapolis election

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Minneapolis City Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai and I agree on this much: There is much at stake on Nov. 4 when the next mayor, City Council, Park and Recreation Board and citywide members of the Board of Estimate and Taxation are elected.

She chose to accent that point, and brought particular focus to the City Council races, by lobbing an f-bomb at Mayor Jacob Frey during a lighthearted weekend neighborhood event. Not a choice I ever made in over four decades of public and civic service. And not a choice the mayor made in a measured response to her remark, which bookended outreach he made earlier this year during his State of the City speech to Chughtai and two of her colleagues (Council Members Robin Wonsley and Jason Chavez), complimenting their work despite disagreements in hopes of a productive working relationship, even with the stresses of a political season ahead. A vain hope, it turned out.

As a leader of the current City Council majority (also including the previously mentioned Wonsley and Chavez, along with Elliott Payne, Jeremiah Ellison, Jamal Osman, Katie Cashman, Emily Koski and Aurin Chowdhury), Chughtai’s profane outburst underscores one outcome at stake in November: whether there will be a new majority not reflexively hostile and oppositional in their approach to the mayor. I am a strong Jacob Frey supporter and believe he will win re-election this fall. But whoever occupies the mayor’s office and 13 council seats, Minneapolis cannot afford another four years like the last four, marked by increasing stalemates and bitterness that too often impeded needed progress.

Another outcome at stake: Will the next City Council majority understand its role? These officials operate in a system of independent but interconnected and mutually dependent private- and community-sector and governmental organizations. Approaching those relationships with an attitude of cooperation and collaboration is essential. But frequently in recent years, the City Council majority devalued the contribution of other actors (especially from business), alienated potential allies in the community and behaved as though they are better suited to do the jobs other officials are elected to perform.

By straying from their core responsibilities and becoming misaligned with the priorities that move Minneapolis forward, the current majority also raises the stake for voters this fall. City residents must go to the polls in large numbers, with a clear understanding of which issues are most important to council candidates, how they will approach those issues and the way they will conduct themselves in office.

The first half of this decade tested Minneapolis like never before. Despite the challenges faced and opportunities missed or not yet realized — largely due to dysfunction stemming from the current City Council majority — the opportunity to secure a vibrant future for our city is at hand.

Voters will make a series of individual ward decisions in November, but should keep in mind an overarching question: Which candidates, working together and with the next mayor, have the background and temperament and positions on key issues to help create, over their four-year term, a city that will excel far into the future?